


Meant to Be

by Poptart318



Category: Downton Abbey
Genre: Adopted Children, Adopted Sibling Relationship, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Courtroom Drama, F/M, Family Feels, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Parent Death, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:08:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,678
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22943071
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Poptart318/pseuds/Poptart318
Summary: MODERN AU. Years before meeting her husband, Anna Bates had been in love with another man. But as soon as she'd told him she was pregnant, he'd paid her a large sum of money to never contact him again, and abandoned her and their daughter forever. Now, years later, she knows this heartache was a blessing in disguise because she is happy with her beloved John, who took in her daughter as his own, and gave her three more children. And then one day something completely unexpected happens: a young boy who claims to be the son of her ex-lover - her teenage daughter's half-brother - shows up on their doorstep, changing their lives forever in the best possible way.
Relationships: Anna Bates/John Bates, Charles Carson/Elsie Hughes, Mary Crawley/Matthew Crawley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 5





	Meant to Be

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: This is just a work of fan-fiction that I'm writing for fun. I do NOT claim ownership of any Downton Abbey characters, locations, etc. I only thought of the plot and the OC's - (I *think* I had one up with Gracie before and then took it down, but I can't remember.)
> 
> So I meant to write this story months ago after becoming obsessed with Downton Abbey, but then the time got away from me. However, I really love this idea so I had to come back and write it. So here it is. It's very different in that it takes place in modern times and Bates and Anna have more kids (and Matthew Crawley is alive because I needed a lawyer) but I like it and I hope you will too!

January 3rd 2020 - York, England, United Kingdom. 

It was a Friday night and John and Anna Bates were enjoying a rare date at their favorite pub. They were seated up at the bar, John wearing a blue and green plaid shirt and khaki trousers and his beloved wife in a flowy, knee-length black dress and white sweater, both of them enjoying pints of light beer. They had their heads together and were admiring a picture of their four children that had just been sent to Anna’s phone. 

In the middle was Anna’s oldest child and John’s adopted stepdaughter, thirteen-year-old Grace Elizabeth (who went by “Gracie"), and gathered around her on the couch was their three-year-old son John Arthur (affectionately called “Johnny”) and one-year-old twins Archibald James (“Archie”) and Josephine Alice (“Josie”). It was interesting because despite being siblings with similar faces that resembled their parents, each of the Bates children had different coloring. It was similar of course, but none of them shared the exact same combinations. Gracie had red hair, which was a huge surprise because neither Anna nor her ex-boyfriend had it, but she did have her mother’s sea blue eyes. Johnny had Anna’s blonde hair with John’s sky gray eyes, while Archie also had red hair (another surprise) with gray eyes and Josie had John's brown hair with blue eyes.

All of the children were happy, healthy and well behaved, and Gracie loved her little siblings very much. Right now, the kids were at home and their next-door neighbor, Elsie Hughes-Carson, was watching them. She was the one who had texted the picture, and she had told Anna and John that the kids were “doing well."

“Oh, look how much they love each other,” Anna crooned. “I always knew Gracie was meant to be a big sister."

John smiled. “She’s a good girl,” he agreed. “You raised her well."

But Anna shook her head and stared lovingly into her husband’s eyes. “So did you,” she corrected him.

He just nodded as a huge grin broke out on his face. “You’re right. She may not be mine by blood, but I’ve known her since she was six years old, and I’d do anything for her,” he said.

Anna beamed. “I know you would,” she said. “You’re her father, the only one she’s ever known and ever will know, and she loves you so much. She tells me every day how happy she is that she has you." 

In that moment, John could feel tears forming in his eyes; he was deeply touched. “I will always love her as my own,” he said. Then turning his attention back to the picture, he grinned. “God knows we’ve suffered, but now we’re together, and I can’t imagine a better life than this one right here,” he added thoughtfully.

“I couldn’t agree more,” replied Anna with a smile, her own eyes growing misty. 

John reached out to gently stroke his wife’s cheek, where a single tear had begun to fall, and then leaned in and kissed her. “You are the best thing that has ever happened to me,” he murmured when they broke apart.

Anna wanted to melt right there into a pool of her own happy tears. “I love you,” she said, smiling and resting her forehead against his. 

Some of the other people at the bar were looking at them now, but they didn’t care. No one knew their story like they did. No one knew what each of them had been through to get to this point of such happiness in their lives, and it was nobody else’s business.

Anna had had a rough start in life when her beloved father, a police officer, was killed in the line of duty and her mother re-married and constantly turned a blind eye to her stepfather sexually abusing her and her older sister. Then fourteen years ago, she had thought that her life was over when her then-boyfriend Edward Knight had left her pregnant and alone. She had met him in her twenties and fallen head over heels for him because he was so charming. However, when she had told him that she was carrying his child and intended to keep it, his reaction had revealed his true colors. He had been angry because he hadn't wanted the responsibility of fatherhood, and even went as far as paying her a large sum of money to never contact him again, before running off to London. Ironically though, a few months later, he had sent her his new address in case she changed her mind about the baby. This had devastated her because she had truly loved him and thought he was the one she would spend the rest of her life with. She had ended up giving birth to Gracie on June 20th 2006, when she was twenty-six, and then raising her on her own for the next several years until she met John.

John had been a kindred spirit when it came to having a troubled past. He had married his first wife Vera right out of high school, and soon realized what a huge mistake he’d made because she was never happy and struggled with severe mental illness. It had been hell for him, and so a year and a half into their marriage, he’d enlisted in the British Army and even fought in the Gulf War in the early 1990s, where he'd obtained his permanent knee injury. While he was away, Vera had committed suicide, and he hadn’t learned of it until he’d returned. Of course, he had been overcome with guilt and blamed himself, thinking if only he had tried to get her the help she needed instead of running away from it all, perhaps she’d still be alive. He hadn’t loved her for years, but he’d never wanted her to die. Despite being a war hero, he had felt like the biggest coward on Earth. After this, he had gone back to university to get a degree in Computer Science , and then lived with his mother in London for many years until her shocking death from a post-hip surgery blood clot. Burying her had absolutely destroyed him because she had always been there to support him no matter how many times he’d screwed up, and he had been very close to her. She was his beloved mum, after all, and he would never have another. After her funeral, he had relocated to York to work at his wealthy friend’s company, which was where he and Anna had met and fallen in love.

They had married around two years after this, and John legally adopted Gracie when she was eight. They had written a letter to Edward, who fortunately still lived at the same address he’d given Anna years ago, and he’d happily given up his paternal rights so the adoption process had been easy. After suffering one miscarriage, John and Anna welcomed Johnny into the world on August 21st 2016 when they were fifty-two and thirty-six respectively, and then Archie and Josie a little over two years later on September 23rd 2018, at the ages of fifty-five and thirty-eight. Now, their family was complete and they were the happiest they had ever been.

“It’s getting late,” Anna said softly, suddenly realizing that it was after ten o'clock. “Do you think we should go?"

But her husband shook his head. “Ah, give it a few more minutes, we don’t know the next time we’ll be able to do this,” he chuckled, taking a sip of his beer.

“You’re right,” she giggled. “We should enjoy it as long as we can."

John grinned as he wrapped his arms around his wife’s waist, capturing her lips in another sweet, lingering kiss, and Anna closed her eyes, melting into his embrace with a blissful smile. 

When they broke apart to catch their breath, Anna opened her eyes and noticed a young boy walking past the window outside. She briefly wondered who was watching him at this late hour, but then John surprised her by slipping his tongue into her mouth, arousing her and drawing all of her attention back to him and their kiss. They usually didn’t act this way in public, but it felt like forever since they had last been on a date, and they were enjoying themselves. By the time Anna looked up again, the boy was gone.

“I’ve changed my mind,” whispered John with a sly smile, “the kids should be sleeping and I don’t think I can wait to get you alone.”

Anna smirked. “Well then, Mr. Bates, we’d better get going,” she said coquettishly.

* * *

Out on the cold, dark streets, 10-year-old Ernest (“Ernie”) Knight walked along, occasionally peering into the various lit-up shops, pubs and other buildings. He didn’t know where he was going, and he had nowhere to go. He had only just arrived here in York on a train from London a few hours earlier, with nothing but fifty pounds in his pocket (which he’d stolen from his father) and the clothes on his back. His mind was still reeling from the events of the day before. He would never forget walking into his house after school to find his mother lying dead on the floor with an empty bottle of pills in her hand. He would never forget sitting on the floor beside her, sobbing until his father came home from work and began screaming at the body. He would never forget his father’s voice repeating, “You stupid bitch, how could you do this to me?” And he would never forget the beating that he’d received for no reason other than for his father to release his own anger. He had then gone through his mother’s belongings and found something intriguing: a letter written several years ago by an ex-girlfriend of his father’s, saying that she had married another man and wanted to know if he would revoke his paternal rights to their young daughter since he’d never wanted anything to do with her anyway. Ernie had never known he had a half-sister out there, and when he’d confronted his father about it, the latter had beat him again and then told him to get out and never come back.

Ernie had taken the letter with him and read it over and over. Apparently his father had left this woman soon after she had told him she was carrying his child. The woman’s name was Anna Bates and his half-sister, who was almost three years older than him, was called Gracie. Ernie wasn’t entirely sure why this letter was in his mother’s possession and not his father’s, or why it was even still in their house, but he assumed that she must have had some reason for keeping it, and that was good enough for him.

This act of cowardice (his father abandoning his half-sister before she was even born) had come as no surprise considering how his father had treated him and his mother. His poor mother had struggled with low self-esteem all her life and had married the first man who’d come along (his father). Even when he treated her badly, she stayed out of fear that she would never find anyone else. Edward Knight was a horrible man and he had abused his wife even before Ernie’s birth. But when Ernie was born, the abuse increased tenfold because his mother had refused to get an abortion. And once Ernie was no longer a baby, his father began to abuse him, too. And one day ago, his mother had finally cracked and put herself out of her misery. Ernie wasn’t angry with her, though. He knew how she had suffered because she had truly loved his father and it broke her heart that he didn’t love her back, and he would never forget how she had fought to protect him when she was alive. She hadn’t been strong enough to run away with him, but Ernie had decided to focus on the good times. After all, she was no longer alive to defend her actions, and he forced himself to believe that she really didn’t think she had any other choice. 

But now here he was, wandering around York at night, asking anyone who would listen if they knew of a woman named Anna Bates with a daughter called Gracie. Since he didn’t have any grandparents or aunts or uncles (his father’s parents had both died in a car accident when he was a toddler, his maternal grandfather had died of a heart attack last year, his maternal grandmother was alive but had Alzheimer's, and neither of his parents had siblings), they were, in effect, the only family he had in the world and he hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would be able to find them. And if he did find them, maybe, just maybe, they would be kind enough to take him in. 

It was getting really late now and Ernie was freezing and exhausted. He wasn’t sure he’d ever find the Bates’ house because even though he had the envelope with their address on it, York was still a decent-sized city and he had no idea where he was going. In fact, several times he’d found he had been walking in a big circle. He wished he had a smart phone like his father so he could use the navigation on it, but alas, he did not.

It was going to be a very long night at this rate, and defeated, he slumped down onto the nearest bench and began to cry. 

* * *

The night air was cold as John and Anna walked home from the pub, hand-in-hand. They couldn’t wait to get home and check on their children, and then retire to their bedroom. There was no way they could have anticipated what would happen next.

As they continued down the sidewalk, they suddenly saw a young boy sitting alone on a bench, crying. Anna immediately recognized him as the one she had seen from the pub window.

“John — “ she whispered, holding her husband back. “Do you think we should help him?” 

John considered this for a moment, and then nodded his head. As much as he wanted to get home, he knew he wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he heard anything had happened to this boy. 

“Excuse me,” said Anna gently, sitting down beside the crying child. “Are you lost?"

At the sound of her voice, Ernie looked up. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve before nodding his head. “Yeah. I’m not from here and I don’t know where I’m going,” he explained.

“Where are your parents?” Anna prodded.

“It’s a long story,” said Ernie. He had no idea that he was currently sitting next to the person he had spent the past several hours searching for.

Anna looked at her husband, who came closer to the bench. 

“Are they here in the city somewhere?” John asked.

Ernie looked up at him and shook his head. “No, actually my dad’s in London and my mum is dead,” he answered, before starting to cry even harder.

Hearing this, John and Anna looked at each other, stunned. That would explain why the boy was alone, and the part about his mother was heartbreaking, but they still didn’t quite understand what they had just involved themselves in. However, they were determined to help him; they had gotten too involved to walk away now.

“Oh, you poor sweet child,” said Anna, with tears welling up in her eyes. "Have you no other family here?”

“No. I don’t know anyone here,” Ernie responded sadly, hanging his head. “Besides, I have no other family."

Anna shook her head, still trying to understand this strange situation. “Then why are you here?” She couldn’t help it. She had to ask.

Ernie sighed and wiped at his face again. He had never been so exhausted, and in that moment, he missed his mother terribly. However, he was somewhat relieved, as finally after all these hours, someone was willing to help him. In a city full of strangers, someone had actually stopped to show him kindness instead of ignoring him as if it wasn’t odd that a young boy was wandering the streets by himself. So he decided to seize this one last chance and see if this nice couple could help him find who he was looking for.

“It’s complicated,” he said, “but I’ll tell you if you’ve got time."

John then sat down on the bench beside his wife, wrapping an arm around her waist, and said, “Go on, boy, we’ll listen."

Ernie managed a small smile. “Thank you,” he said.

Anna pulled out her phone. “I’m going to tell Mrs. Hughes we’ll be a few minutes late,” she said, and her husband nodded.

“Right,” said Ernie, composing himself. “So long story short, my dad is a really bad man. He never wanted me, and took it out on my mum because she wouldn’t get rid of me when I was a baby. He was horrible to both of us since I was old enough to walk and talk. He would get drunk and hit my mum and me all the time. And yesterday when I came home from school, I found my mum killed herself, probably because she was so unhappy all the time. She took a whole bottle of medicine and when my dad got home, he didn’t even care about why she did it or how sad I was, he was angry because now he was ‘stuck’ with me on his own. He beat me and sent me upstairs. That’s where I started going through my mum’s stuff, and I found this letter — “ he patted his coat pocket. “I read it and found out I have an older half-sister who lives with her mum. My dad was with a different lady before he met my mum, he got her pregnant, and when she told him she wanted to keep the baby, he left for London — “

This story sounded very familiar to Anna’s own experience with Edward Knight, and she shared an uneasy glance with John because it brought back memories of that very painful time in her life. 

Ernie continued, “but anyway, she’s married to someone else now and she wrote my dad this letter years ago asking if her new husband could adopt their daughter — my sister — because my dad never even met her. It sounds like he never wanted anything to do with her. And when I asked him why he never told me I had a sister, he beat me again and told me to leave and never come back. So I got on a train this morning and came here, trying to find my sister and her family.”

By now, Anna’s face had paled considerably, and she was squeezing her husband’s hand. The story that this boy had just told them sounded identical to the one involving her, John, Gracie and Edward.

Unable to help herself, she asked him, “Do you know your sister’s name? Or her mother’s?”

Ernie nodded again, for the first time that night feeling hopeful. Though he wasn’t quite sure why this kind woman had tensed up so much during his story. “Yeah,” he answered. “The mum’s name is Anna Bates, and my sister is Gracie. I think she’s about three years older than me.”

Both John’s and Anna’s eyes went wide as their suspicions were confirmed. They were stunned. 

“What’s your name?” John asked the boy, furrowing his eyebrows.

“Ernest Knight,” he replied, “but you can call me Ernie.”

Anna couldn’t believe this, but as she studied the boy, she couldn’t deny that he bore an uncanny resemblance to her ex-lover. He had the same brown hair and blue eyes of his father, but his face was kinder, and not at all smug. 

“Well it looks like we may be able to help you,” she told him, her voice shaking slightly.

Ernie’s entire face lit up. “Really?” he exclaimed. Any exhaustion that he had felt before suddenly disappeared and he was filled with hope. 

“Yes,” said Anna, managing a weary smile. “I’m Anna Bates. This is my husband John, and our daughter Gracie is at home with her younger siblings.”

And suddenly, her uneasiness while he was talking made sense to Ernie. “Wait,” he breathed, “I've really found you?” He couldn’t believe his good fortune.

“Yes,” confirmed Anna. “Your dad, Edward, he broke my heart. But I’m glad of it now because he really was a horrible man and I’m happy with my husband and children. I’m only sorry your poor mother had to put up with that - that jerk - and felt she had no other way out.”

If there had been any doubt in Ernie’s mind, hearing this woman use his father’s name proved everything. He had found exactly who he’d been looking for, and as heartbroken as he was after everything that had happened, in that moment, he wanted to jump for joy.

“Could I — could I — ?” he stammered, more tears welling up in his eyes. He wanted nothing more than to throw his arms around her and never let go.

“Could you what, sweetheart?” Anna prodded gently.

“— give you a hug?”

Hearing this, Anna became teary-eyed again herself. “Of course you can,” she said, her heart melting on the spot.

Ernie immediately embraced her and began sobbing uncontrollably into her sweater. His emotions were overwhelming him - he was sad and happy at the same time, and he was also exhausted. 

Anna gently rubbed circles against the young boy’s back and looked at her husband. “We can’t just leave him out here,” she said. “What should we do?”

John thought about this for a second and then, letting out a heavy sigh, replied, “I think the only thing we can do is bring him back to the house with us."

At this, Ernie slowly lifted his head. “You mean I can meet my sister?” he sniffled.

“Yes,” said Anna, smiling. “Come on."


End file.
